OSLO, NORWAY– 25 JUNE 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe has entered into a partnership with XH Smart, a global smart card manufacturer, focused on commercializing end to end biometric payment offerings to XH Smart customers in China and beyond.
XH Smart is a global solutions provider offering end-to-end digital security solutions to banks and telecom operators in more than 70 countries across the world. A fully accredited Visa, Mastercard and China UnionPay card manufacturer, the company has grown rapidly since its founding in 2011, becoming a global player in the payment card marketplace, marked by several large industry acquisitions both inside and outside of China. In 2018 the company manufactured in excess of 44 million payment cards.
Speaking on the agreement with Zwipe, Mr Eehou Lim, XH Smart Group SVP, said “We are convinced that biometric payment cards is becoming one of the new standards in payments going forward and that is why we have partnered with Zwipe, the only company that can assist us in offering an end to end solution to our customers. We are confident that we have the right pieces in place to seize this exciting opportunity.”
Zwipe’s end to end offering buoyed by its strong intellectual property portfolio provides card manufacturers physical components and manufacturing support. Additionally, the comprehensive package covers advisory services that will enable card manufacturers to provide a more complete offering to banks and issuers, by directly supporting product integration, customer enrolment and onboarding on multiple platforms.
Commenting on this partnership, André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe said “We are excited to partner with XH Smart and to contribute to their capacity to deliver not just an innovative new product but a complete experience to their discerning customers, driven by our shared commitment to making convenience secure.”
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Munich, Germany, and Oslo, Norway – 18 June 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe and the world’s leading provider of semiconductor solutions in the payments market, Infineon Technologies AG, have extended their non-exclusive partnership through a long-term agreement. This settlement outlines both technical and commercial collaboration between the two companies. The two parties will co-define and develop advanced system-on-chip solutions and related system designs for mass deployment of biometric smart devices, including payment cards and wearables.
Tap and go payments with biometric cards are gaining considerable market traction as they significantly improve the user experience without compromising on security, supporting the strong customer authentication (SCA) requirements demanded by the second Payment Service Directive (PSD2) in Europe.
Zwipe and Infineon have a long-standing relationship. Infineon’s Secure Element is currently deployed in all pilot projects featuring Zwipe’s biometric payment platform, currently supporting multiple leading payment networks run by 12 major banks in various countries across Europe and the Middle East. Card manufacturers plan to certify fully biometric payment cards and make them commercially available this year.
Commenting on this partnership, André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe, said “We are proud to strengthen our long-standing partnership with a global technology leader such as Infineon. This collaboration further enhances our ability to commercialize our technology and IP through competitive solutions for mass-volume deployment.”
Bjoern Scharfen, Head of Payment & Wearables at Infineon had the following to say: “Our collaboration and joint offering with Zwipe is a key accelerator of mass deployment in the biometric payment market.”
Working together, the two technology companies will seek to develop advanced integrated solutions optimized to the volume requirements of biometric dual-interface payment cards. The platforms being developed combine simplified card design with reduced bills of material.
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*Secure Element (SE) is a microprocessor chip which can store sensitive data and run secure apps such as payment. It acts as a vault, protecting the information inside the SE (applications and data) against malware attacks that can be typical launched against the host (i.e. device operating system).
OSLO, NORWAY– 3 JUNE 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe and Goldpac, China’s largest secure payment solution provider are partnering to launch biometric payment cards, enrolment offerings and related services to Goldpac’s extensive customer network, including some of the largest financial organizations in the world.
Goldpac is fully certified by VISA, MasterCard, China Union Pay, American Express, JCB and Diners. As one of the top payment card producers in the world and the largest in the Asia Pacific region, Goldpac supplies payment smartcard chips, instant issuance card kiosks and card personalization /issuance solutions.
Speaking on this partnership, Oliver Hui, Senior Vice President of Goldpac Group, said “At Goldpac, we focus on supplying our customers with state-of-the-art fintech solutions that help them succeed in today’s dynamic payment ecosystem, and doing so innovatively and securely. Biometric cards enable our card issuance customers to in turn provide their end users with cards that are secure and convenient to use, such as for payments or for identification, and we are excited to work with Zwipe to qualify and then introduce their biometric technology to our customer base, in the process providing a winning solution to our customers.”
The complete collaboration will include licensing of Zwipe intellectual property, technical integration of Zwipe components and hardware, adoption of Zwipe’s suite of enrolment solutions and advisory services, targeting biometric payment card pilots with various issuers before the end of 2019.
Commenting on this milestone agreement, André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe said “ Goldpac is one of the largest, and fastest growing innovators in the global payment card market and we are excited to support their efforts in commercializing biometric payment solutions globally.”
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OSLO, NORWAY – 3 JUNE 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe today announced that Lisbeth Breum has notified the company that she is resigning from her position as chief financial officer effective 31 August 2019 to assume a CFO role in a company unrelated to biometrics, smart cards or payments.
“On behalf of the Zwipe team, I want to thank Lisbeth for her contributions during formative years for Zwipe. We wish her all the best in her future endeavors,” said André Løvestam, Zwipe CEO. The company is in the process of finding a new CFO and will announce this when concluded. “We have added new capacities to both our technology and operations teams during the last year. The new CFO will join a team built to drive the next part of our journey towards international commercialization of Zwipe’s leading solutions”, Løvestam added.
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OSLO, NORWAY- 14 May 2019 - The Annual General Meeting in Zwipe was held today. Enclosed are the Minutes of Meeting from the Annual General Meeting.
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BEIRUT, LEBANON – 09 MAY 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe and Inkript, a digital security provider and a subsidiary of Resource Group, have partnered to launch biometric payment cards.
Inkript’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia are certified by Visa and Mastercard for EMV cards production. The company caters for customers across the Middle East, Africa and Europe, and has shipped over 70 million smartcards in 2018, making it one of the largest card manufacturers in the region.
Speaking of this partnership, Hisham Itani, Chairman and CEO of Resource Group said “we are pleased to launch our partnership with Zwipe to cater to the growing demand of secure banking cards in the region. Biometric payment cards add a valuable layer for secure payments and banks are keen to have this innovative product. He added “Our partnership with Zwipe, a proven technology leader in this emerging market, is introducing a cutting-edge biometric solution to financial institutions in the region and we are happy to be among the first movers.”
Zwipe and Inkript will collaborate technically and commercially to bring biometric payment cards to market. Several banks have expressed interest to pilot the offering, with the first pilots expected to launch before the end of 2019.
Commenting on this important partnership, André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe said “we are excited to partner with Inkript to introduce and deploy our technology with their customers. Based on the positive feedback from the successful pilots in the region, we are confident that the market is primed for growth.”
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OSLO, NORWAY- 23 April 2019 - The board of directors of Zwipe AS (the “Company”) calls for the annual
general meeting to be held at the premises of Advokatfirmaet Simonsen Vogt Wiig AS at Filipstad Brygge 1, 0252 Oslo, Norway on 14 May 2019 at 13:00 CET.
Please find enclosed the notice of the annual general meeting. The notice and the Company’s annual report for 2018 is available on the Company’s website www.zwipe.com.
Notice of attendance, in person or by proxy, shall be given no later than 13 May 2019 at 16:00 CET. Shareholders are encouraged to register this electronically through the company’s website www.zwipe.com. Alternatively, the attached form may be sent by e-mail to genf@dnb.no, or regular post to DNB Bank ASA, Verdipapirservice, NO-0021 Oslo.
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Q1 2019 highlights and recent developments
Status and outlook
André Løvestam, Chief Executive Officer at Zwipe, said:
“Throughout the first quarter, we have continued to execute on our Generation NxT program, focusing on technological and supply chain advancements and cost reductions, making sure we have a competitive offering available as the industry is moving forward towards making biometric payment cards an offering to paying consumers. We have also made progress in ongoing pilots and continuously gained valuable feedback, enabling us to develop our products’ performance and functionality to even better meet the needs of the marketplace. We remain dedicated to ensuring continuous organizational improvements, which will be a vital differentiating factor as we move towards the large-scale, commercial adoption of biometric payment technology.
A strong and diverse partner ecosystem will also be increasingly important going forward. We see a trend that stakeholders across the value chain are branching out to multiple partners to reduce dependency on single partners or technologies, and we expect banks, payment networks and card manufacturers alike to secure at least dual-sourcing of their solutions for continuity of supply and general risk mitigation.
The feedback we have received and the experiences we have gained as supplier of inlays to the absolute majority of battery-less contactless biometric payment cards pilots to date, as well as the improvements we have achieved in both improving performance and reducing manufacturing cost for our Generation NxT-based inlay, which is our solution for the certification process and the anticipated subsequent roll-out of commercial biometric payment cards, make us confident that we remain well-placed to be a leading supplier of inlays in this phase.
Throughout the first quarter, we continued to strengthen our market position by building new important strategic partnerships, supporting our long-term ambition of catering to the unique needs of different regions.
The scale and scope of the opportunity we face is continually confirmed with increasing interest from stakeholders globally and we remain confident in Zwipe’s strong position in the biometric payment card value chain as we continue on our mission of making convenience secure.”
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OSLO, NORWAY – 16 APRIL 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe announces a proprietary JavaCard operating system (OS) solution compatible with multiple global payment network applets. The solution is integrated with Zwipe’s biometric engine and is relevant for biometric payment cards, wearables and other ultra-low power payment and biometric applications.
In the biometric payment card marketplace, the primary operating systems in use are Multos and Java. Speaking on the JavaCard OS solutions development, André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe, said “With this announcement, Zwipe is uniquely positioned to be able to offer products that address both Multos and Java, further broadening the company’s scope in meeting various customer preferences and needs in the biometric payment card marketplace” adding “several of our already announced partners will use our JavaCard enabled biometric payment solution and we have received interest from multiple other card manufacturers to integrate it into their payment card offerings”.
Zwipe’s biometric payment platform features the company’s biometric engine and power management systems located on a flexible inlay which is integrated inside a traditional payment card by card manufacturing partners. This platform is seamlessly integrated with JavaCard OS and multiple payment applets found on the card’s secure element.
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OSLO, NORWAY – 24 July 2020 – Primary insider Diderik Schonheyder, board member at Zwipe AS, has today acquired 5,000 shares at an average price per share of SEK 13,30. Diderik Schonheyder’s shareholding after the transaction is 5,000 shares.
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This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act
OSLO, NORWAY– 6 JULY 2020 – It has been a busy and momentous last few months in the world of biometric payments. I am pleased to see how our partners and customers are strengthening their capacity to deliver next generation contactless payment solutions powered by biometric payments platforms from Zwipe. We observe first-hand an increasing awareness and interest from banks, local card schemes and even retailers that are sharing the view that biometric payments provide significant value to consumers.
What is happening in the marketplace?
Several “1st generation” biometric payment card platforms are now making their way towards the first small-scale commercial launches in 2020. These recent developments clearly signal that this technology will see commercial break-through, representing not only a means for banks to offer “peace of mind” to cardholders and achieve top-of-wallet effects, but also to realize a new source of revenue and value creation.
For fully understandable reasons, the payments ecosystem is by and large conservative, cost conscious and risk averse. This is why the biometric payments market has been long in the making.
Things are now changing, however. At an accelerating pace. Observing how the engagement and proactivity of our partners and the ecosystem are currently growing, I see clear indications that momentum is building, with awareness and interest increasing everywhere.
The team at Zwipe and myself are very excited by this progress.
Here is an overview of our recent major announcements:
It is all coming together
On the supply side, technology advancement, radical cost reduction and scalable production readiness are factors that make biometric payment a feasible proposition. On the demand side, COVID-19 has triggered growing demand and awareness for safe and hygienic payments in the entire society, with transaction limits raised in more than 40 countries worldwide to avoid unnecessary PIN entry and contactless payment rapidly growing everywhere. This builds on the already strong consumer interest for biometric payments before COVID-19, driven by the demand for convenience, security and the “coolness factor” derived from innovative solutions.
Our Zwipe Pay ONE platform is progressing as planned to deliver superior energy efficiency and excellent biometric performance at significantly lowered manufacturing cost thanks to advanced, single-chip innovation. Our confidence that this will be a very compelling proposition has grown further based on the series of recent awards given by smart card manufacturers for Zwipe Pay ONE to power their upcoming biometric payment cards.
Zwipe has pioneered biometric payment card technology and we now see commercial opportunities and engagements developing across the payment ecosystems. We see growing interest from smart card manufacturers, banks, payment schemes and retailers to see how Zwipe can help them to address consumer needs and concerns over contactless payments.
What Zwipe does goes far beyond the technology, it is about helping every stakeholder maximize the value that biometric payments can bring to society. As communicated in our PR on 2 June, we are complementing our collaboration with our direct customers, the smart card manufacturers, by actively stepping up our engagements with banks and neo-banks, as well as new players in card issuance, such as retailers and tech companies. I feel confident that this will accelerate our route to success while creating value for our customers, shareholders, and consumers.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank each member of my great team at Zwipe for their relentless efforts in Making Convenience Safe and Secure. On behalf of everyone at Zwipe, I wish all our customers, partners, shareholders and avid followers a safe and happy summer.
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BOLOGNA, ITALY and OSLO, NORWAY– 1 July 2020 – Biometric fintech company Zwipe and Publicenter, Italy’s largest domestic smart card manufacturer, are pleased to announce the launch of a collaboration aimed at bringing the next generation contactless experience, powered by biometric payment cards and wearables to financial institutions and consumers across Europe.
Publicenter is a VISA and Mastercard certified smart card manufacturer, with over forty years of experience in card production and personalization. It delivers payment, loyalty and gift cards to major banking and retail customers in Italy and Europe.
“We have seen firsthand the potential of biometric payment cards and successful market trials in Italy, run on the Zwipe platform. With many of our customers asking for this product, we are confident that the partnership with Zwipe will be the most cost effective and time efficient route for us to offer this solution at scale” says CEO of Publicenter, Sandro Mucelli.
In Italy, 50% of all POS transactions processed were already contactless* pre-COVID 2019, and, as a result of increased transaction limits and an elevated focus on safety, this has grown since. With businesses beginning to open again, Publicenter plans to engage with customers to promote the value-add of biometric payment solutions.
“We are excited to work with Publicenter who have strong engagements with banks and retailers across Europe, including in our own home region of the Nordics. Working together, we will identify new commercial opportunities for both companies and implement a successful roll-out of Zwipe Pay ONE,” says André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.
*) Source: Europe; Spaargids.be; July 2018; Numbers concern payments processed by MasterCard
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About Publicenter
Publicenter has over forty years’ experience in high quality and cost-effective smart card production and personalization, being one of the leading card manufacturers in Europe. Main products are financial smart cards, loyalty/gift cards, and ID cards. Headquartered in Bologna, Italy, Publicenter is a Visa and Mastercard certified vendor for over 15 years. To learn more, visit www.publicenter.it
For more information contact: Sandro Mucelli, CEO, info@publicenter.it
OSLO, NORWAY – 29 June 2020 – Biometric fintech pioneer Zwipe and Thomas Greg and Sons do Brasil (TGS), one the largest smart card manufacturers in Latin America, are pleased to announce the extension of their exclusive partnership.
As part of uplifting the collaboration, TGS is commencing small scale manufacturing of biometric payment cards based on Zwipe’s platform, embracing the road to Zwipe Pay ONE and aiming to gradually ramp up production to address the ongoing market demand for safer and more secure contactless payments.
Since announcing the partnership in April 2019, the two companies have been working closely to fine-tune the technical aspects of the solution and evaluate the market appetite for biometric payments.
“We are now seeing increasing interest in biometric payment cards in our region, especially as consumers become much more familiar with contactless payments and demand safer and more hygienic payment alternatives in store. We have worked closely to adapt our manufacturing processes to integrate Zwipe’s biometric solution in our card production and we are excited to take this partnership to the next level,” says Mr. Hernani Finazzi, CEO of TGS.
“Latin America is a fast-emerging region when it comes to payment card usage. We are extremely glad TGS is taking a key step to embrace the Zwipe platform and bring our collaboration to a new level. We look forward to jointly addressing the needs of banks and consumers in Latin America going forward,” says André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.
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About Thomas Greg & Sons do Brasil
The group Thomas Greg & Sons established in Brazil in 2000 to serve the Brazilian security printing market. In its 20 years of operation, the company has consolidated as one of the largest companies in the segments of Security Prints, Solutions, Smart Cards, Identification Systems and Traceability. Currently, the group is present in thirteen countries, with more than 10,000 employees. In Brazil, it has a branch in eleven states providing the national driver's license, identity card with automated biometric identification system, vehicle ownership document, traceability stamps, diplomas, electoral system, smart cards, among others.
To learn more, visit www.thomasgreg.com.br
Media Contact for Thomas Greg & Sons do Brasil: Hernani Finazzi, CEO +55 11 2666 8821, vendas@thomasgreg.com.br
OSLO, NORWAY– 18 JUNE 2020 – Biometric fintech company Zwipe and Watchdata Technologies, a pioneer in digital authentication and transaction security, have partnered to develop and launch next generation contactless payment cards and wearables and bring these innovations to banks in multiple regions.
Watchdata Technologies is a Beijing based Chinese company, with Singapore as its international headquarters. It is serving 80 million banking customers in over 70 countries, the company has extensive operations in China, France, Russia, Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Korea and Mexico. Watchdata offers a wide range of payment products and services and is a VISA, Mastercard, China UnionPay certified manufacturer.
“Partnering with Zwipe to develop the next generation contactless experience aligns strongly with our mission of continuous innovation. Biometric capabilities uniquely combine convenience with security and safety, uplifting card payments’ experience to completely new levels. Integrating Zwipe Pay ONE into our smart card program will be key to competing and securing future business in this fast-emerging segment.” says Nicole Guo, Product Manager of Watchdata.
Zwipe will deliver key components and technical guidance as part of the agreement starting with biometric card payments.
Speaking on the partnership André Løvestam, CEO at Zwipe says “In China faster checkout in retail is cited as the number 1 priority for consumers. We are proud to partner with Watchdata, a fast-moving, innovative and global organization representing significant volume potential in many countries globally for the Zwipe Pay ONE platform. Together, we will develop and roll-out the next generation contactless experience through cards and wearables, addressing the security, safety and privacy needs of consumers worldwide.”
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About Watchdata Technologies
Watchdata Technologies is a recognized pioneer in digital authentication and transaction security. Founded in Beijing in 1994, Watchdata now have international headquarters in Singapore, 8 regional offices, and serve customers in over 70 countries. Watchdata customers include mobile network operators, financial institutions, transport operators, governments and leading business enterprises. Solutions from Watchdata provide daily convenience and security to over 1 billion mobile subscribers, 80 million e-banking customers and 50 million commuters. To learn more, visit www.watchdata.com
OSLO, NORWAY – 8 June 2020 – Zwipe is pleased to announce a new milestone in its ongoing collaboration with Toppan Forms Card Technologies Limited (TFCT), a leading smart card manufacturer based in Hong Kong.
TFCT has placed an order that brings the recently announced partnership to begin small scale manufacturing of biometric payment cards. This is a key milestone as part of the setup project and necessary developments in preparing for high-volume market roll-out of Zwipe Pay ONE.
“We have allocated time and space in our manufacturing facilities for producing biometric payment cards powered by Zwipe’s technology. We are excited to move ahead with Zwipe in this important project to develop the biometric payments market” says Mr. Joseph Hui, Deputy Managing Director of Toppan Forms Card Technologies Limited.
“The APAC payments market has one of the highest growth rates in the world. We are pleased that TFCT, a payment solutions leader in this region, has decided to step up cooperation to integrate our platform in their payment cards. We look forward to working closely with TFCT to deliver safer and more secure contactless payments with the disruptive Zwipe Pay ONE platform” says André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.
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OSLO, NORWAY– 02 June 2020 – Zwipe AS announces that Bishwajit Choudhary has accepted the position of Executive Vice President Strategy & Channels at Zwipe, commencing 2 June 2020. He will lead Zwipe’s engagement efforts towards banks, global and domestic card schemes, selected retailers and other important payments ecosystem stakeholders.
Based in Oslo, Mr. Choudhary brings two decades of experience from Nets where he led many new business initiatives within Digital-ID, electronic signatures and mobile authentication for international clients. As the Group SVP (Strategy) he led Nets' market intelligence and strategy execution and played a key role in many commercial initiatives, notably open-banking data analytics, customer advisory, strategic alliances and fintech partnerships. Prior to joining Zwipe, he was Chief Commercial Officer at UserTribe, a global leader in delivering deep customer insights in 100+ countries based on live experience data.
“With increasing activity in payment cards and wearables in general, and biometrics in particular, and with Zwipe poised to take a technology and cost leadership position in this high potential market, timing is right for Zwipe to complement our growing engagements with our direct customers, the smart card manufacturers, by embarking on a “pull strategy”. This means that we will step up our engagements with banks and neo-banks, as well as new players in card issuance, such as retailers and tech companies. With deep insights in the payments industry, Bishwajit will add a valuable breadth in our payments expertise and lead our strategy and channel development,” said André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.
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OSLO, NORWAY– 19 May 2020 –
Financial Calendar 2020 – 2021
Interim Report January-June 2020 August 27, 2020
Financial Year 2020 Annual Report February 25, 2021
Annual General Meeting May 19, 2021
Interim Report January-June 2021 August 26, 2021
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OSLO, NORWAY– 14 May 2020 – The Annual General Meeting in Zwipe AS (Company) was held today. All proposed resolutions were approved unanimously in accordance with the call for the meeting. The minutes of Annual General Meeting are included as an attachment. The complete proposal, which was approved by the Annual General Meeting, is available on www.zwipe.com for further reference. The attendants of the AGM represented 11,2% of the votes in the company.
The following matters were reviewed and confirmed:
Approval of the annual report and financial statements for 2019:
The board’s proposal for the annual report and the financial statements for 2019 for the Company and the group were unanimously approved.
Election of members to the Board of Directors:
The following persons were unanimously elected to comprise the new Board of the Directors:
Remuneration to the members of the Board of Directors and the members of the Nomination Committee
Remuneration to the Board for the period from the AGM in 2020 until the AGM in 2021 were unanimously approved as follows:
Chairman of the Board: NOK 260.000,-
Members of the Board: NOK 130.000,-
As remuneration, it was unanimously approved that members of the Nomination committee each receive a total of NOK 40.000 for each year in the term they have served (two years). Jörgen Lantto is covered by the board member remuneration and will hence not receive remuneration for his seat on the nomination committee.
Board authorizations and instructions to the Board regarding use of the authorization to issue shares to increase the Company's equity
The Board proposed that two new authorizations for the Board on capital increases are issued, (i) to fulfil the Company's incentive program and (ii) to cater for strengthening of the Company's equity.
i. Authorization for capital increase to fulfill the Company's incentive program
The Annual General Meeting resolved that the Board is hereby granted authorization to increase the share capital of Zwipe AS (the Company), on one or several occasions, with up to NOK 216 946.70 (2,169,647new shares), equivalent to 8.5% of the registered share capital at the time of this resolution. The authorization shall remain in force until the end of the annual general meeting 2021, however not beyond 30 June 2021. The pre-emptive right of the shareholders to subscribe may be set aside.
ii. Authorization for capital increase to strengthen the Company's equity (extract, please see the attachment to the notice for the complete proposal)
The Annual General Meeting resolved that the General Meeting granted a new authorization to the Board to issue shares corresponding to up to 25% of the share capital, and the new authorization shall be restricted to issue of shares to strengthen the Company's equity to the extent the Board considers this to be in the Company's best interest at the given time.
The authorization may be used to issue shares to strengthen the Company's equity to the extent the Board considers this to be in the Company's best interest at the given time. The authorization shall remain in force until the end of the annual general meeting 2021, however not beyond 30 June 2021. The pre-emptive right of the shareholders to subscribe may be set aside.
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This is information that Zwipe AS is obligated to make public pursuant to the continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Oslo Børs Merkur Market and on Nasdaq First North Growth Market. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46 (0)8528 00 399. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, on May 14, 2020 at 23:15 CET
